1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spinning reel, and more particularly to a spinning reel comprising a rotary frame including a bail arm, a spool reciprocable along an axis of the rotary frame with rotation of the frame and a line-retainer member for preventing a fishing line from falling off a line accommodating portion of the spool or for preventing the fallen line from moving towards the axis of the rotary frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a spinning reel of the above-described type, the fishing line once wound about the spool may become loose and extend radially due to the elasticity of the line per se; and this loosened line may fall off the line-accommodating portion of the spool. This fallen line will move along a base end of the rotary frame and the entire region of the rotational axis of the frame. Consequently, the line will become entangled with a support shaft positioned at the axis or other parts positioned adjacent thereto and this entanglement may result in breakage of the line. In particular, this trouble tends to occur oftentimes when there is a decrease in the winding-up speed of the line or when a rear end wall (skirt portion) of the spool has a reduced longitudinal width for the purpose of compactness of the entire reel.
The prior art has suggested use of the line retainer member for preventing the falling of the line off the line-accomodating portion of the spool. One such convention is known from a Japanese laid-open utility model gazette No. 63-55870 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,124. This reference invention has the following features.
(1) A support arm of the rotary frame supporting a bail arm supports a support shaft along the reciprocating direction of the spool.
(2) The support shaft loosely mounts a roller member rotatable about and movable along the axis of the support shaft.
(3) A rear end wall of the line-accommodating portion of the spool defines an engaging groove engageable with the roller member to allow the rotary member to reciprocate together with the spool and also for allowing rotation of the rotary frame relative to the spool.
(4) The above-described support shaft and the roller member together constitute a line retainer means.
Accordingly, the roller member functions to receive the line if and when the line has fallen off the line-accommodating portion, thereby preventing the line from entering the axis region of the rotary frame along its base end.
However, for causing the roller member to rotate smoothly to move along the axis of the support shaft, a diameter of an insertion hole of the roller member and an outer diameter of the support shaft through its entire length must match with very high precision. Further, even with very precise matching between these dimensions, if the reel, like the above-described convention reel, employs a double-bearing construction for supporting the support shaft, the support shaft has different resistance against flexion at its intermediate portion and end portions, such that the intermediate portion having less resistance tends to flex through extended use of the reel. One obvious method to avoid this is to increase the outer diameter of the support shaft. However, since the support shaft is disposed within the limited space between the bail arm support arm and the spool, there is a limit to increasing the diameter.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a spinning reel with an improved line-retainer means employing a new engaging arrangement for the rotary frame and the reciprocable spool, the improvement assuring both smooth rotation of the rotary frame and smooth reciprocating action of the spool.